The overall goal of the research is to define, through cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, the role of nutritional and dietary variables in determining atherogenic traits and the morbidity and mortality due to coronary heart disease observed in the Framingham heart Study Cohort and Offspring/Spouse Populations. The associations between nutritional variables and major atherogenic risk factors (dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance and overweight) will be investigated cross-sectionally in the total Offspring/Spouse population. The independent, quantitative effects of dietary factors on the prediction of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality will be explored longitudinally in two samples of the original Framingham Cohort at 20 and 30 years of followup (n = 859 (males) and 912 (men and women), respectively). Six major steps will be followed in each set of analyses: dimension reduction using cluster and factor analysis; zero order independent nutrition variable analyses (multiple regression); stepwise multiple regression of independent variables; specification of overall regression models; stability and validity testing; and the addition of intervening variables using multiple regression techniques. We will also conduct multivariate analyses of the dependent variables to determine associations and interactions among these variables. The proposed analyses should indicate: 1) how nutrition variables or clusters contribute to the longitudinal development of heart disease morbidity and mortality in the Framingham Cohort at 20 and 30 years of followup: and 2) how nutrition variables and clusters relate to atherogenic traits on cross-sectional analysis of the Offspring/Spouses.